Lead Metal DNA™
· Atomic #82 · ₹167.10/kg today
One of the oldest metals humans have worked, doing one of the least glamorous but most essential jobs in the modern battery aisle.
Lead DNA Profile
Each dimension below is either computed live from data this site already tracks, or a manually researched figure with its own source — see how these are calculated.
How is this calculated?
Computed from the 30-day price change already stored in this site's own price history: score = 50 + (30-day % change × 2), clamped to 0–100. A metal flat over 30 days scores 50; every 1% of 30-day move shifts the score 2 points either way.
How is this calculated?
The standard deviation of daily % price changes over the last 10 trading days, scaled ×20 and clamped to 0–100. A purely descriptive measure of recent swing size, not a positive or negative signal on its own.
How is this calculated?
The single largest producing country's share of reported global production (excluding the "Other countries" residual bucket), taken directly from the USGS-sourced figures already powering /metal-reserves. Higher = more concentrated in one country.
How is this calculated?
Summed reported reserves ÷ summed reported annual production, across only the countries USGS reports both figures for (same commodity, same units — never summed across commodities). Scaled: 40+ years of reserve life scores 100, scaled down linearly below that.
How is this calculated?
Manually researched from each metal's primary industry association (see each metal's Sources section) — not computed. Scored as 100 minus the largest single demand sector's share of total demand, so a metal with no single dominant buyer group scores higher than one dependent on one sector.
No reliable dataset for this metal yet — shown honestly as not scored rather than a guessed number.
Scientific Identity
- Symbol
- Pb
- Atomic Number
- 82
- Category
- Industrial Metals
Source: IUPAC Periodic Table of the Elements. Further physical/chemical properties (density, melting point, electron configuration) are planned for a future update — not shown until individually verified per metal.
Batteries, Overwhelmingly
The large majority of global lead demand goes into lead-acid batteries — car batteries, UPS backup power and, especially across India and Southeast Asia, two-wheelers — a demand base that's remarkably steady compared with metals more exposed to construction or electronics cycles.
The Most-Recycled Metal on This List
Lead-acid battery recycling rates are exceptionally high — a large share of the lead in a new battery in many markets already came from an old one — making lead one of the more genuinely circular-economy metals tracked here, alongside being frequently recovered as a byproduct of zinc and silver mining.
A Metal That Deliberately Shrank Its Own Uses
Lead's modern demand base looks nothing like it did a century ago — leaded gasoline and lead paint, once massive uses, have both been phased out worldwide on documented health grounds. Today's demand is concentrated almost entirely in batteries precisely because the metal there is sealed inside a casing rather than dispersed into the air or a child's environment the way those older uses were, a rare case of a metal's own regulatory history reshaping what it's used for at all.
Supply Snapshot
Real, USGS-sourced production shares — the same data behind this metal's Geographic Concentration score above. Full breakdown: Metal Reserves →
Did You Know?
Because so much lead demand is tied to something as steady as vehicle and backup-power batteries, lead's price tends to be noticeably less volatile day-to-day than more cyclically-exposed industrial metals.
Frequently Asked Questions
Lead Metal DNA™ is MetalsCost's intelligence profile combining scientific identity with market, supply and demand indicators — each indicator is either computed from this site's own stored price and reserves data, or a manually researched, cited figure. See the methodology page for exactly how.
Lead's overall score of 51/100 is a simple average of the individual dimensions currently scored for it below — click any dimension's "Why?" for its exact formula and source.
China accounts for 42.2% of global lead production, per USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries — see the full production breakdown.
The Lead price in India today is ₹167.10 per kilogram as of August 28, 2026. See the live price and chart.
MetalsCost Metal DNA™ is an informational and analytical indicator. It is not investment advice, a price target, or a recommendation to buy or sell any commodity or financial instrument. See the methodology page for data sources and calculation details.
